Israeli Strikes Kill 7 in Lebanon Despite Ceasefire Extension

Beirut, Lebanon — Israeli attacks across Lebanon killed at least seven people on Monday despite a U.S.-backed ceasefire extension, authorities said.

The attacks occurred three days after Lebanese and Israeli officials met in Washington, D.C., agreeing to extend the ceasefire for an additional 45 days. Israel has repeatedly violated the truce, initially agreed in April.

Among those killed Monday were Wael Abdel Halim, a leader in the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement, and his 17-year-old daughter, Rama. An Israeli air strike hit an apartment building in Douris, a town in eastern Lebanon’s Baalbek district, the Lebanese Ministry of Public Health reported.

Dozens of mourners marched through the Jalil refugee camp for Palestinians on the outskirts of Baalbek after the attack.

Israeli strikes also continued across southern Lebanon, with attacks reported in Hanaway, Dibal, Deir Ammar, Deir Amess and Meirka in the Tyre district, Al Jazeera Arabic correspondents on the ground said.

Additional strikes hit Harouf and other areas across the south.

Last week’s negotiations to extend the ceasefire marked the third round of U.S.-mediated talks, which began with the first direct meeting between Lebanese and Israeli representatives in decades.

Under the agreement, a U.S.-facilitated security track is expected to start May 29, with another round of talks scheduled for June 2-3 in Washington, D.C.

However, renewed diplomacy has done little to halt Israeli hostilities, which the military insists target Hezbollah — a group publicly opposed to negotiations with Israel.

Israeli forces have persistently bombed southern Lebanon and maintained positions in the area, while Hezbollah remains actively engaged in the conflict.

Hezbollah said Monday it targeted an Israeli bulldozer with a drone near Deir Siryan and struck an Israeli military communications drone in the same area.

The armed group also said it fired missiles at a gathering of Israeli soldiers and military vehicles in Rashaf, southern Lebanon.

Hostilities continue to affect Lebanon’s civilian population. On Monday, the Israeli military ordered residents of the southern Lebanese villages of Harouf, Borj El Chmali and Debaal to leave their homes before planned attacks.

Army instructions for civilians to move into open areas before strikes have become increasingly common, effectively amounting to forced displacement.

Israel said it struck more than 30 targets across southern Lebanon, claiming the sites belonged to Hezbollah.

It added that the targets included weapons warehouses, observation posts and buildings used to coordinate attacks.

In a social media statement, the Israeli military said it had killed several Hezbollah fighters preparing “terror plots” against Israeli forces.

Reporting from Tyre in southern Lebanon, Al Jazeera’s Obaida Hitto said the bombardment had intensified despite the ceasefire extension.

“It has been another violent day here in southern Lebanon,” Hitto said.

“Israel started out the day by issuing evacuation orders for four towns and villages in the south of the country. It subsequently conducted strikes on two of those locations.

“Strikes were also reported in Az-Zrariyah on a moving vehicle while another raid in Tayr Debba resulted in significant casualty numbers.”

Hitto said Israel had concentrated much of its firepower over the past two days on the western Bekaa Valley, the Marjayoun district and the Nabatieh district, targeting villages including Yohmor, Yohmor Shgeir, Zawtar el-Charqiyeh and Sohmor.

“There were also further strikes by Israeli jets and drones around the city of Bint Jbeil,” he said.

“All of this has resulted in a huge humanitarian crisis with more than a million people displaced. The situation is worsening as Israel has issued five more forced evacuation orders this evening, causing large numbers of people to flee areas that were previously not targeted or thought to be safe.

“And all of this as this ceasefire was extended. But we’ve seen the exact opposite. We are seeing more of an escalation by Israel in southern Lebanon.”

According to the Danish Refugee Council, more than 1.2 million people were forced from their homes between March and April because of the fighting.